Birt gets seven years in prison

In stern message of deterrence against domestic abuse, a local judge sentenced a Quinte West man to seven years for viciously attacking and stabbing his estranged common-law spouse some two dozen times in a jealous rage.

“Mr. (Shawn) Birt abused his position of trust,” Justice John Johnston said of the Aug. 2014 brutal attack. “He assaulted the victim late at night in her own home.

Johnston said case law presented by defence and Crown counsel signals “domestic violence is a major problem in Canadian Society.”

“This kind of violence cannot be tolerated,” he said. “Make no mistake, it was an attack. Ms. (Sheila) Woodcox is lucky to have survived.”

Johnston noted Birt became jealous of another man he believed the victim to be having relationship with.

Birt became enraged and left menacing messages before visiting Woodcox’s Loyalist Parkway-area home that night.

Though substance abuse, namely Birt’s alcohol abuse, was a major factor in the relationship, Johnston dismissed it as an excuse for his gratuitous behaviour.

“You cannot hide behind the bottle,” the judge said.

Birt apologized to the victim and her family, for slashing and stabbing her 23 times, in advance of a Justice John Johnston levying a sentence Friday.

After listening to Shawn Birt’s apology to Sheila Woodcox, Justice Johnston retired to his chambers to decide if he will agree with defence counsel that four years was suitable punishment or side with the prosecution that the appropriate range would be nine years minus roughly seven months of credit for time served on house arrest.

Johnston ruled the appropriate sentence to be seven years, minus 9 months credit, leaving just over six years to be served in prison, from Friday.

Birt, who was acquitted of attempted murder but convicted of aggravated assault for the brutal attack on then on-and-off girlfriend, Woodcox, 56, on the night of Aug. 30, 2014, stood up before the court to express remorse for his actions.

Birt, 47, took responsibility for the attack and wounds suffered by Cox, claiming his sentiment toward his actions was beyond remorse.

“I’m responsible for those injuries,” he said of the injuries while looking at Woodcox who was being consoled by a relative. “Sheila doesn’t deserve those.”

“I want to apologize to both Sheila and Erica (Sheila’s daughter who lived with the two at one point),” Birt said pausing to gather his thoughts before continuing in an often mumbled address.

Justice Johnston later deemed his apology to be little too late, saying even after his conviction Birt, “stressed limited responsibility.”

The perpetrator’s apology was made after Woodcox, in an impassioned victim impact statement, told the court she’s debilitated by the numbing injuries and extensive nerve damage that prevents her from performing simple chores and enjoying pleasures like playing with her grandchild.

“I have 30-plus scars on my body,” she said. “Everyday I have pain.

“I always feel ashamed and disappointed this is what I allowed to happen.”

Sheila’s daughter, overwhelmed with sorrow, was unable to read her letter to Birt, so prosecutor Jason Nicol did so for her.

“You split us up and tore us down,” he read from her statement. “You made my brother and I almost lose our mom.”

In his submissions and why Birt should be imprisoned for at least nine years, prosecutor Jason Nicol said Birt visited Wooodcox’s home that night in an “alcohol-induced rage” ready for a violent confrontation and committed a “vicious, sadistic attack.”

It was a “horrific and prolonged attack on a defenceless woman,” at her cottage on the water, just off Loyalist Parkway, Nicol said, adding she sustained grave injuries as she was “stabbed from top of head to feet.”

He stopped Woodcox from calling 911, though he did rush out in panic to inform a neighbour that Sheila was clinging to life.

“He fled the scene without providing medical assistance,” Nicol said. “It was so bad she had to crawl out onto the driveway.”

It required two doctors at Trenton Memorial Hospital to tend to her wounds which included a nearly severed Achilles tendon.

Nicol blasted Birt for continuing to maintain he too was a victim. He also undermined Birt’s lawyer’s request for credit, saying he did nothing to seek aid for domestic abuse though he did receive treatment for alcohol abuse.

“If you deny you have any problem, how can it be fixed?” Nicol said, adding Birt’s first marriage was killed by his drinking woes. Birt’s lawyer, Mark Ertel, said his client was subjected to two years of punishing house arrest, which had him wearing an alcohol detection device and GPS tracking bracelet.

Ertel said his client is committed to sobriety and should be credit for that and having no prior history of crime or violent behaviour.

He said Birt acknowledges the harm done and the role he played in it.

He’s going to be taught a lesson by the courts,” Ertel said.

That being said, in his summation, Ertel’s math suggested his client should be sentenced somewhere between four to six years, with credit for up to 18 months.